Trump's removal of State Dept. IG linked to possible investigation of Pompeo: NPR

According to a report from NPR, Donald Trump's abrupt decision to remove State Department Inspector General Steve Linick was linked by a Democratic lawmaker to a possible investigation being opened into actions by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The president served notice late Friday that he intends to replace Linick in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

According to NPR, "Linick had been on the job since 2013 and had recently issued reports criticizing some Trump appointees of retaliating against career public servants. Democrats expressed outrage at his firing. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., accused President Trump of taking the action to protect Secretary of State Mike Pompeo."

"I have learned that the Office of the Inspector General had opened an investigation into Secretary Pompeo," Engel said in a statement. "Mr. Linick's firing amid such a probe strongly suggests that this is an unlawful act of retaliation."

Engel did not offer further detail, however NPR reports, "... a Democratic aide on Capitol Hill elaborated that 'the OIG was looking into the Secretary's misuse of a political appointee at the Department to perform personal tasks for himself and Mrs. Pompeo.'"